Get ready for the Octopode Factory Cyber Monday Sale

Are you ready for the big ol Cyber Monday sale over at The Octopode Factory Nows the time to stock up, and if you are still in the Xmas crafty mood, Lily has just bought out the whole set of Nativity figures.

Tando-Creative Andy Skinner clock and class

A quick post from me today. I just wanted to share this tando-creative clock I made in an Andy skinner class last weekend. It's Andy's own tando design and is the 7" version. He also has a 12" reversable clock. I'll post a link later. I'm seeing if I can blog from my phone.

All the paints ate from the decoart Americana range. 

Thanks for stopping by. X. I'll be back on the 1st with a Kate Crane inspired December calendar page. 

Xx 

Over at Simon Says Stamp they are having a countdown to the Holiday's, Now I always like to stretch the rules so I am sharing my Clock, as I am counting down the hours till Xmas ;)

De Stempelwinkel - Small gift box

Morning all, I hope you are all keeping well and getting plenty of crafting time in.

It's once again my turn over at De Stempelwinkel to share a little make and today I have this little teaser of a pic of a gift box.

if you have time it would be great to see you over there. xx

If you are unsure of who or what De Stempelwinkel are? they are a Dutch stamp shop that produce a lot of their own rubber stamps, hundreds to choose from, if you fancy checking their stuff out, follow the link HERE to the shop. xx

The Octopode Factory - Add a Crown

 Welcome and thank you for stopping by,I hope your weekend is off to a good start?
 Today I am sharing a Journal page I created for our current challenge over at The Octopode Factory, the theme this time is 'Add A Crown'.
 Now You may have noticed a bit of a theme if you stop by fairly often, I quite like the darker things, something with a little bit of creep to it ;)
So when I knew the challenge was 'Add A Crown', my little dark mind thought straight away, Queen, but not the postage stamp gal, more the Queen Of The Damned, (love that movie) and I have loved the Whimsical Devil Girl image for a little while now which is available from Lily's Etsy store.
 The Devil Girl has been coloured with Copic's and clear embossed. The back ground was painted with Decoart American acrylic paints I wanted to give a sort of Hellish feel with flames and darkness. I used a zombie stencil for all the damned souls ( thanks Glo) ;) and Andy Skinners Skull stencil from Tando-Creative. I also used a fancy filigree stencil for the bottom corner.
I finished off by adding one of Andys Stamps to the bg as it seemed quite fitting and the 'Queen Of The Damned' was stamped with the October Crow alphabet from De Stempelwinkel.
Almost forgot, My crown was added, this is one of the Tim Holtz embellishments, I touched up some of the details with some Decoart Gloss Enamel paint.

Now Sadly this will be the last challenge over at The Octopode Factory but we will still be back with DT makes so we are not going anywhere ;)
I would love to see you all joining in the fun with us. you have two weeks to take part, there are images up for grabs too. xx

Thank you all for stopping by xxxx

I would like to enter this into the challenge over at Smudgy Antics, they are having an 'Anything Goes' challenge.

I would also like to enter this into the challenge over at Punkyou Girl challenge blog, they are having an 'Angels And Demons' challenge.

ATC Swaps, Past and Future ;)

 Hi All, Just a very quick post to share some ATC's I did for a swap, most of which I have shared before at somepoint apart from the first one, Something that is not my usual style and do not worry I have not jumped on the Happy Clappy bus ;) but this was made for a blog buddy that is a little more in touch with his beliefs  than I am.

In case you are wondering the swap was with Neil Walker of Neelz Expressionz we started this swap at the beginning of the Summer but with both of us being rather busy it was only a few weeks ago that we finished the swap.

Here are the ATC's that Neil made for me, I love the running theme through these ATC's and the soft colours on the egyptian and tribal ATC's

Now onto the Future Swap, Over at Haunted Design House we are just starting our 2nd Annual ATC swap

Whilst we are on our break we did not want you forgetting us so once again we are running a swap, all you have to do is pop over and sign up. names will be drawn for swap partners some time next month. Head on over for more details.

All we ask is you keep your atc's on the dark or creepy side ;)

I hope to see you all over there joining in, I would love to see more people taking part this year than last.

xx

De Stempelwinkel - Fashion Curio Wax Canvas

So how's everyone doing? It is my turn again over 

at the De Stempelwinkel Blog to share a make.

With the Melt Pot still out I decided to do Wax canvas, it turned out to be a kind of Vintage Fashion Curio type thing ;)

When I use the Melt pot more than any other type of medium the results are always a bit of a mystery and I find the direction of where I think the canvas will go will change several times.

All I knew was I wanted to use the Vintage Steampunk lady from De Stempelwinkel and the rest just sort of mysteriously happened.

Thanks for stopping by. xx

I would like to enter this into a couple of challenges.

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge are having a Mystery challenge.I always love the mystery of what will be created from using the melt pot.

Lej Designs are having an Alter it or Gift challenge.  I have altered a Canvas that can be given as a gift ;)

Loves Rubber Stamps are having a shabby chic or Vintage challenge.

Decoart Tutorial - grungy mirror.

Welcome back, It is of course great having you stop by.

Today I am sharing a tutorial for the Decoart International DT, this is a fairly new blog full of amazing mixed media artists creating tutorials using Decoart Products. 

Today I'm sharing this altered Ikea Mirror.

Here is what you will need.
An Ikea Mirror.

Some sheets of Chipboard/thick craft card.

An Embossing Folder

Decoart Gesso

Decoart Americana, lamp black

Decoart Traditios, Hansa Yellow Medium,Quinacridone Gold, Satin Glaze.

Decoarts Deco Page Glue
Decoart Triple Thick Gloss Glaze
Sanding Block.

I removed the mirror by gently heating along the Glue with my heat gun, this softened it enough that it just popped out, I then painted all the edges with Lamp Black americana paint. You dont have to do this but I wanted to make sure no wood would show through if one of the embossed edges was over the edge.

I cut my mount board to fit my Embossing folder, embossed them and using the Deco Page glue stuck them to the frame.Using a craft knife I cut around the frame. If like me you have gaps do not worry, you canuse a bit of Decoart Dimensional Effects.

Using a sanding block and at about a 45 degree angle gently sand all the edges so there are no over hanging bits.

Next paint the embossed card with Gesso, when that was dry I painted everything with more Lamp Back Americana paint.

The Traditions Hansa Yellow was applied and worked into all the low points, this is a translucent paint so you get some nice natural shaded patches and some nice depth. a second coat was added in places just to build up some more solid colour.

I let this dry for a while as I did not want the card to be at all damp when I started sanding, If it is a little damp and you are a bit heavy handed you can tear the top layer off the card.

I found it best to take it slow with this step, the idea is to remove most of the yellow from the raised areas exposing the black undercoat and in places the gesso underneath that.

I wiped everything down with a soft cloth to remove any of the dust from the sanding. To add a more aged and grungy look I used some Quinacridone Gold randomly with a brush and straight away wiped it away/in with my finger, this gives a rusty look.

Finally I gave the top a coat of Tripple Thick Gloss Glaze, with the triple thick its best not to over work it, just move it around enough for your coverage and let it do its thing, It self levels all on its own and gives a really hi gloss thick finish.

The edge of the frame was touched up with lamp black and given a coat of the Traditions Satin Glaze.

Thank you for stopping by. It really means a lot reading your comments and having you follow my blog. Thank you all. 

xxx

This ATC has been given the same treatment But Painted with a wash of Traditions Napthol Red Hue. 

And here is a tag made in exactly the same way as the mirror, I have used A mixed Media Board from Tando-Creative.

De Stempelwinkel - Amber fragments from the Melt Pot?

Morning all, Thank you all for stopping by.Here is a sneak peek of what I am sharing over at the De Stempelwinkel blog.

There is even a deliberate mistake in today's post ;)  ok, not deliberate, a blond moment lol.

If you have time it would be great to have you stop by xx

The Octopode Factory - Spots n Stripes

Ok it's official I have a new fave image from Lily over at The Octopode Factory Shop she has just released 2 new images from Beetlejuice. A classic film from my childhood and probably my first brush with Tim Burton.

The Beetlejuice image for me was perfect for our latest challenge that starts today over at The Octopode Challenge Blog, the theme this fortnight is Spots n Stripes.

I started with a tag cut from some black mount board and masked of some stripes with tape. I painted the rest white with Acrylic paint from Decoart. I used the Dyan Reaveley spots stamp and stamped with Pink acrylic paint randomly over the top.When all was dry I peeled the tape away and was left with my stripes. It was looking a little stark so I used the duller green Dylusion Spray and then wiped it back so it more stained the paint than anything else, I coloured my ribbon at the same time. I also added the words, Say My Name. If you have not seen the film, you need to say Beetlejuice 3 times to summon him ;)

Beetlejuice was printed onto some 300msg card and coloured with my Copics, He was fussy cut and glued to the tag and the whole thing was given a coat of Decoart's Triple Thick Gloss Glaze.To finish off I added the brad to the bottom corner.

We would all love to see you joining in our challenge, your crafty make does not need to be spooky, just as long as it fits the Spots n Stripes theme. You don't even have to use an Octopode Image, although we love it when you do and your name goes into the prize pot twice x.

As always thanks for stopping by, I'm sorry for the number of posts this week, just the way it goes sometimes ;)  However I really do appreciate you taking the time to stop on by xxx

I would like to enter this into the challenge over at Punkyou Girl, they are having an 'Angels and Demons' challenge.

De Stempelwinkel - Pen Pot

Morning all, remember what I said about buses yesterday?

Today I am sharing over at De Stempelwinkel, and this is a little teaser from a pen pot I altered.

If you have time it would be great if you stopped by.

Thank you all so much for visiting, Ill be back on Friday xx

The Octopode Factory - Movember Awareness and Fun With ATC's 100

Well it's a busy week here this week, It's just like waiting for a bus, nothing for a week and then they all start turning up at once, so today I am sharing two posts at the same time. The Fun With ATC's post will be below.

As I am sure you have noticed we are now in November a month which has now been claimed by Man and re named Movember to help raise awareness for men's health issues.

Lily over at the Octopode Factory is offering up a selection of her Furry faced images at a reduced rate, head on over to check out what the DT have created. we will also be back latter in the monthi with some more Movember makes.

Ill be back on Friday with more Octopode goodness as we will be starting our next challenge. I know some of you will just love the new images from Lily.

I may even post a pic at the end of the month showing how my Tash has taken shape ;)

Ok, so now on to post number two and this is a post with mixed emotions, as you can see our theme over at Fun With ATC's is 100, this is due to the fact that this is our 100th challenge but sadly this will also be our last challenge.

I would like to say a great big thank you to the rest of the DT, the last year has been a blast and I am very happy to have worked with you all, I'm sure you will all be going on to great things. And of course a great big thank you to all the people that have taken part, the responses to the challenges has always been brilliant and I have greatly enjoyed looking at all your creativity over the past year.

For those of you who will really miss making ATC's why not check out Haunted Design House next month, we will be hosting our 2nd annual ATC swap.It would be great to see some of your faces taking part. x

Thank you all for stopping by. Its always brilliant having you here xx

De Stempelwinkel - Calendar Note Book

Morning all and thank you so much for stopping by. I would like to say hi to my new followers and a big thanks for deciding to follow me x

It's my turn again to post over at De Stempelwinkel.

I have a book that I made in a class at my local craft shop. I have used Tim Holtz Papers. To see inside I would love for you to stop by the De Stempelwinkel Blog. xx

Hope you are all keeping well xx

Haunted Design House - Samhain Sunset (Autumn Colours)

Evening all, I hope your all keeping well? 

I know Halloween is over but the minions over at Haunted Design House celebrate it all year round.

We are half way through our latest challenge before our little break.

The theme this time is Samhain Sunset, for people like me, that means Autumn Coulours, with of course our Dark/Gothic/Creepy twists.

We are sponsored this time by the very talented Mitzi Sato-wuiff of Aurora Wings and she is offering up $15 of Digi images for our greusome twosome.

I have used the Las Calaveras image, I love the day of the dead images so this was a no brainer.

I decided to alter a book end i had laying around, this was just a cheap plain wooden bookend I picked up in the craft store.

There is a little teaser for tomorrows make ;)

I printed my image out onto some 300 gsm and coloured the image with my copic markers. the image was edged with some black archival ink and glued onto the book emd with Decoart's faux finish medium. The base of the bookend was painted with Decoart's Persimon acrylic paint. I applied some black modelling paste through Andy Skinners Candy Skull Stencil. When everything was dry I edged the bookend with black paint and covered both images with Decoart's Triple Thick Gloss Glaze.

Thank you so much for stopping by. x If you have time we would love to see your creepy creations over at Haunted Design House 

And it's always worth checking out what the other minions have been creating xx

 I would like to enter this into the challenge over at Punkyou Girl, they are having an Angels and Demons theme.